there was legislation introduced by civil rights leader, john lewis acknowledging, u.s. acknowledgement of mandela international day and senators that showed up when they screamed mandela long walk to freedom, a documentary. congress was, indeed, ratcheting up the honors of mandela as his health failed. at the live desk, i'm scott macfarlane. >> thank you. we are joined by former senator, chris dodd of connecticut. you neuman della personally. what are your thoughts on his passing this evening? >> i met him a number of times. i don't want to sound like it was more intimate than it was. i was on the senate foreign relations committee years ago when we took strong positions and opposition to south africa along with senator kennedy and many others who led the fight of john lewis and the house. there were so many people involved. the united states almost stood away with the boycott until policies changed. many thoughts come to mind in a moment like this. one thing occurred to me. i have been asked over the years. in the past, i spoke at every high school in connecticut in 30